China leader Xi Jinping defends record to UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet

Chinese leader Xi Jinping defended China's record to the top United Nations human rights official on Wednesday, saying each nation should be allowed to find its own path based on its particular circumstances and criticising what he said were countries that lecture others on human rights and politicise the issue.

"Through long-term and persistent hard work, China has successfully embarked on a path of human rights development that conforms to the trend of the times and suits its own national conditions," Xi told UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet in a video call, according to an online report from state broadcaster CCTV.

Bachelet is in the middle of a six-day visit to China that includes stops in Xinjiang, a remote northwestern region where the Chinese government has been accused of human rights violations, mass imprisonment and genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim ethnic groups.

Those that have accused China of genocide against the Uyghurs include the US, the parliaments of Canada and the UK and numerous human rights groups.

Her trip has been criticised by the US and others, who think that China will limit whom she can talk to, stage manage her trip and use it for propaganda purposes.